‘Hungary’s leaders feel that it is their responsibility to preserve and protect the security and prosperity of the Hungarian nation. And that, surprisingly, is an unusual perspective everywhere else within Western Europe.’
On 13 August the European Commission disbursed nearly €4.2 billion to Ukraine under the First Pillar of the Ukraine Facility. During the four-year plan, the EU aims to provide up to €50 billion in grants and loans for the country’s recovery, reconstruction, and modernization. Meanwhile, Kyiv has made gains in Kursk, which, according to the Institute for the Study of War, is a pivotal moment in the war with the potential to change its trajectory.
In the days after the attack Israeli and international Jewish organizations raised around half a million dollars for the grieving Druze families affected by the horrific attack. Head of the Majdal Shams City Council Dolan Abu Saleh highlighted that the Druze want peace in the region.
‘The essence of the grand strategy for Hungary—and now I will use intellectual language—is connectivity. This means that we will not allow ourselves to be locked into only one of either of the two emerging hemispheres in the world economy. The world economy will not be exclusively Western or Eastern. We have to be in both, in the Western and in the Eastern. This will come with consequences. The first. We will not get involved in the war against the East. We will not join in the formation of a technological bloc opposing the East, and we will not join in the formation of a trade bloc opposing the East.’
The international community has been watching events in the Middle East with bated breath for days, as Iran could attack Israel at any moment. Hungarian Minister of Foreign Affairs and Trade Péter Szijjártó reportedly informed his Israeli counterpart of Tehran’s intention to attack on Monday evening.
Deif, who orchestrated the 7 October terrorist attack against Israel and served as a military commander during the ongoing Gaza war, was killed in Khan Yunis. His killing preceded that of Ismail Haniyeh, who the day before his death attended the inauguration of the Iranian President in the company of none other than Enrique Mora, the Spanish EU official coordinating nuclear negotiations with Tehran.
The situation in the Middle East is becoming increasingly tense, with escalatory developments taking place one after the other. This week, Israel killed a senior Hezbollah commander and Hamas political leader Ismail Haniyeh in a precision strike. In response, Iran’s Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei ordered a direct attack on Israel.
‘The country, alongside Chile, is the most developed country of the region. While in Chile anti-establishment sentiments led to a left-wing experiment with the government of Gabriel Boric, Milei represents the opposite in this regard. It will be interesting to see which direction could serve as a model for the hemisphere: would it be a new Pink Tide or, as a result of the Argentine experiment, conservative-leaning supercharged libertarianism?’
Biden’s abrupt exit from the presidential race and anointment of Vice President Kamala Harris as his would-be successor has certainly left world leaders in disarray—not that they were not expecting it, given the obvious lack of both physical stamina and mental acuity of the US president. Regardless, as they continue to grapple with the wars in Ukraine and Gaza, an escalation in the Middle East, and a more emphatic China, world leaders are contemplating if there will be a second Trump’s ‘America First’ administration or a continuity of Biden’s ‘America is Back’ through Kamala Harris.
Germany’s budget for next year cuts aid to Ukraine while Chancellor Scholz’s ‘Zeitenwende’ could also fizzle out without adequate financial support.
Hungarian Conservative is a quarterly magazine on contemporary political, philosophical and cultural issues from a conservative perspective.